Keynote Speakers 2025
We are happy to present our SRN Partners and Keynote Speakers at the 1st International Solidarity Research Conference (ISRC), along with their statements regarding the importance of solidarity research.
«Solidarity is used in an inspiring array of contexts and situations. I am fascinated by the rich moral and political relations motivating commitment and action with others that are animated by the concept.»
Sally J. Scholz is a Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University. For thirty years, she has written on the relations of solidarity, especially when those relations become strained by personal and political violence. Her research in social and political philosophy has resulted in numerous books, including on seminal thinkers whose work is central to developing the moral and political relations of solidarity in the Western tradition. She has published many articles on social movements, violence against women, oppression, and just war theory among other topics. A leader in the profession of philosophy, Scholz has chaired standing committees for the American Philosophical Association, including the Committee on Lectures, Publications, and Research, the Committee on the Status and Future of the Profession, and the Development Committee. She is a former editor of the APA Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy, The Journal of Peace and Justice Studies, and Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy. Scholz was President of the North American Society for Social Philosophy from 2015-2019, and serves on multiple editorial boards. Her current work explores the potential for expanding the bonds of solidarity.
«Solidarity is a foundational social value for just, resilient, and sustainable communities. As such, in an increasingly atomising neoliberal world, solidarity research is needed to unravel ways of ensuring that valued and meaningful relationships thrive while also amplifying the contextualisation of the voices and agency of people in civic engagement for community development.»
Daniel Muia is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Gender and Development Studies at Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is a Trustee representing Sub-Saharan Africa in the Board of the International Association for Community Development (IACD) and Chair of the Association of Community Development Practitioners-Kenya. Trained in sociology and community development, his academic and research interests are in community development and empowerment processes, and qualitative research. He has published journal articles and book chapters, as well as co-edited two books, International Community Development Practice, Routledge, 2022 and Connectedness, resilience and empowerment: Perspectives on community development, Springer, 2023. He is currently co-editing a forthcoming edition, Community Development Theories, Perspectives and Practices in Africa.
Dr. Sui Ting Kong is an Associate Professor at Durham University, specializing in feminist participatory methodologies and social work practice research. Her work focuses on the impact of social movements on personal lives, particularly examining gender-based violence and the experiences of the Hongkonger diaspora. She has developed innovative methods to democratize knowledge production and enhance understanding of violence against women in both political and personal contexts.
«Solidarity research enables me to understand how new political subjects are formed, rights are claimed, and liberties are asserted. It offers a way forward in our backward times.»
Harald Bauder is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, former director of the Graduate Program for Immigration and Settlement Studies (ISS), and the founding former director of TMCIS. He received a PhD in Geography in 1998 from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, and MA and BA degrees in Geography and Urban Studies from Wayne State University, Detroit, USA. In 2015, Dr. Bauder received the Konrad Adenauer Research Award, recognizing his lifetime contribution to the academic and cultural exchange between the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada, and in 2016, he was awarded the Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award, which is Toronto Metropolitan University’s highest annual research award. Dr. Bauder has examined the concept of solidarity in his ongoing research in critical migration studies and at the intersection of Indigenous-migrant relations. Currently, he leads the large international partnership project Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity and Hospitality in Global Perspective (also known as Soli*City).